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Greetings!
Welcome to another Blue
Ribbon Flies weekly
newsletter. Thanks for tuning in. Settle in
and we'll tell you what's happening
around West Yellowstone and our other
favorite spots, show you the fly and the
material of the week, and tempt you to plan
your next trip with us.
Hope you're enjoying the new year, doing some
fishing, tying up some flies, and starting to think about your 2011 trip to Yellowstone country. Take a
break from work or play, grab a cup of
coffee, and
pretend you're leaning on the counter here at
Blue
Ribbon Flies. We wish you were
here, but until you are we'll keep you in the
loop. Thanks for stopping by.
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What's New
What's Happening in Yellowstone Country
This morning most thermometers in town registered minus 45. Cam is seriously considering leaving a few weeks early for the saltwater trips to get out of the cold, he claims that 80 to 85 degrees is much more pleasant than minus 45. Perhaps he's nuts?
Although it as been extremely chilly throughout the Yellowstone area the cold has brought some great opportunities for photos like the one above of the sun dog at the slide area of the Madison.
Guide trip bookings are coming in strong so if you have any dates in July, August and September you are thinking of taking a BFR guided fishing trip please do not wait any longer booking your day(s) as many dates are already filled. 2011 will be an awesome year for fly fishing here. With all the snow-pack we will have a great water year and that means big trout, and fine dry fly fishing.
As usual in the rest of this newsletter, you'll find fishing news from Yellowstone Country in the weekly Fishing Report. You can see what's hot off the vise in the Fly of the Week, get a sneak peek at some of the best materials on our tying bench in the Fly Tying Material of the Week, and stay up to date with the guide staff and their trips in the Guide Trip of the Week.
You'll be seeing a new email newsletter most every week throughout the winter to keep you tuned in to all things fly fishing and fly tying in the greater Yellowstone area and beyond. Throughout the seasons, we'll keep sending you news of hatches and fishing holes around West Yellowstone. So without further delay, go ahead and jump right into the newsletter. And as always, don't hesitate to give us a call or shoot us an email if you have any questions, or if you just want a little fish talk.
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Fishing Report
Weekly Conditions and Tips
As the seasons change, we will
continue to do our best to provide a journal
entry from some of our latest tying and
fishing. We invite you to call and ask us
what we've been up to if you get to wondering.
We always have plenty of stories to tell.
I don't think I'll fish today! ( minus 45) We have been tying lots of flies and working on materials here at the shop. However, The Madison between the lakes is loaded now with pre-spawning rainbows and a few big browns that follow the rainbows up from downstream. While this stretch of river seldom sees much dry fly midge fishing it can occur on warm afternoons, those over 30 degrees.
Expect great nymphing with our Rick's Red Blood Midge, GM Nymph and red Copper John.
Downstream of Earthquake Lake bring snowshoes and wade through the drifts below Raynolds or $3 Bridge of the West Fork. If the wind is down you will see plenty of rising fish, both to individual midges and mating clumps. Some larger trout a very selective taking only single emergers and they always prefer a pattern with a trailing shuck: Zelon, Skittering, and/or Griffth's Gnat Emergers. For fish keying on midge clumps a Hi Vis or Griffiths Gnat tied with dark hackle works best. The key here is to get as close to the rising trout as possible, present your fly on a short-line, pin-point accurate cast t defeat drag, and keep false casting at a minimum as this will surely spook fish by waving your rod and line over rising trout. If you put midging fish down they usually will not come back up again that day.
The Gallatin has been good too, although it gets plenty of pressure from the Bozeman-Big Sky anglers. With warming afternoon temps now I like the water from the park line downstream to Porcupine. The same flies as above will work although it is always good to have a #12-14 Prince with gold bead along now too.
On all rivers a #6-8 brown stone nymph can be a fine choice this time of the year. It never fails, around the end of January the giant stone nymphs become active in the afternoon hours. These monsters come out from under the rocks to graze on the algae and might become swept away in the currents. Big trout know this, and so do local anglers in the know with both taking advantage of these nymphs and the action they can bring on from February into spring, during the warm afternoon hours, 2-4pm
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Fly of the Week
Hot off the Vise
Baker's Hole Soft Hackle
It is Soft Hackle Week here at Blue Ribbon Flies. You can find a link to our latest video tying one of our 2011 New Flies, The Baker's Hole Soft Hackle, in this report. Click the photo of the Baker's hole soft hackle to view this video.
All of us have been cranking out soft hackle flies. John is tying up his order of Baker's Soft Hackles, Nick is tying his famous Nick's Soft Hackle series, I am tying up a new soft hackle midge emerger pattern for our February Fly of the Month subscribers, Bucky has been working on some Peacock and Starling and Partridge and Herl flies, and Josh is tying up some late season soft hackles using sharptail grouse. We love shapies for some soft hackles due to their feathers possessing the look of golden plover a bird no longer available. Dusky grouse, formerly blue grouse, are rare but we still have some nice skins for those soft hackle tiers in-the-know and the same holds for California (Valley) Quail and Bobwhites. You will never find a serious soft hackle tier without a prime starling skin in his tying arsenal. And, a look into locals fly boxes reveal a multitude of patterns tied with these birds, their flies so innovative and unlike some of the more common soft hackle flies seen on the market today.
We can help you stock up with the most essential and the most varied sorft hackle patterns and materials. Give us a call for a great selection of soft hackles, or start shopping now.
Baker's Hole Soft hackle
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Hope you enjoy the latest issue. We'll keep 'em
coming, keeping you up to date on the best
fishing water, tips, and gear we can get our
hands on. Let us know how you're fishing, and
what you're up to. Keep those pictures and fish
stories coming!
Thanks for spending time with us. We'll see you soon!
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You can find Renzetti Midge Bobbins for using world famous Pearsalls silks and floss as well as Alec Jackson Soft Hackle hooks we like to use on our own patterns. And, the last soft hackle material we feature is that of Hun Wings, both dyed and natural. I like to use the olive wings for Baetis duns and Brachycnetrus caddis imitations. The caddis gold wings are awesome for hackling egg-laying caddis patterns and the caddis green dyed wings tie gorgeous summer caddis larva and pupa for fishing the Madison and Gallatin River. Natural hun wings are used as underwings on our own dry caddis patterns as well as legs on emerging Hydropsyche imitations and our important soft hackle caddis emergers, beadhead and standard.
